The present invention relates to personal care articles. More particularly, the present invention relates to absorbent articles, desirably disposable absorbent articles, which have a distinctive system of leg elastics.
Conventional absorbent articles, such as disposable diapers and other disposable garment articles, have typically employed adhesive or mechanical fasteners which attach appointed waistband sections of the articles around a wearer. Various configurations of waist elastics and leg elastics to produce elasticized gathers along the waistbands and leg openings of conventional articles. In addition, elasticized liners, and elasticized outercovers have been employed on garment articles to help provide and maintain the fit of the articles about the body contours of the wearer.
Other conventional absorbent garments have included folded pleats in the outercover. The pleats are arranged to expand open as the garment absorbs liquids.
The external surfaces of such disposable absorbent products may include a nonwoven fibrous material or a matte-finished film material. In some arrangements, pattern embossments have been formed into outer surface of the outercover to provide a decorative pattern.
Still other disposable garments have incorporated an absorbent composite jointed to an outercover composed of elastomeric materials, such as elastomeric, stretch-bonded-laminate materials. Such materials have included a layer meltblown elastomeric fibers which has been stretched and sandwiched between facing layers composed of a polypropylene spunbond nonwoven fabric. The meltblown layer has typically been pattern-bonded to the facing layers with thermal bonds, sonic bonds and/or adhesive bonds.
Conventional garment articles, such as those described above, however, have not provided desired levels of high absorbency, resistance to leakage, low cost and ease of manufacture. The conventional articles have also not provided desired levels of close fit, particularly around the legs of a wearer. Additionally, the conventional articles have not been sufficiently able to form and maintain of desired void spaces in the article during use. As a result, there has been a continued need for garments having improvements in such properties.
Generally stated, the present invention provides an absorbent article having a longitudinal length direction, a lateral width direction, and at least one edge margin. The article includes a substantially liquid-impermeable backsheet layer, a liquid permeable topsheet layer, and a retention portion sandwiched between the backsheet and topsheet layers. The edge margin can include an elastomeric member joined to provide elastomerically contracted gathers in the edge margin. The edge margin can also include a restraint applied to an appointed portion of its corresponding gathers to operatively restrict a re-expansion of a constrained section of the corresponding gathers.
In its various aspects, the article of present invention can provide an article having improved fit, improved absorbency and improved resistance to leakage. The article may also be produced at lower cost and with greater efficiency. In particular, the constrained sections of the elasticized gathers can advantageously provide an article having a distinctive three-dimensional absorbent pocket. The size and location of the pocket or space can be determined by the size and the location of a constrained portion of the elastic gathers in each side margin. Additionally, the various configurations of the invention can provide a closer fit, particularly around the legs of a wearer, and the improved fit can help reduce leakage.